国际英语资讯:Spotlight: S.Korean World War II forced labor victim cries out for Japans apology, reparat_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: S.Korean World War II forced labor victim cries out for Japans apology, reparat

The awful memory did not belong to Kim alone. Her elder sister was also duped and forced into hard labor without pay at a munition factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries during the Pacific War.

"(The Japanese government) says we suffered nothing. I feel very upset. If Japanese people suffered the same, (the Japanese government) shouldn't have said so... I cried so much. I didn't say even to my family when I went for trials in court," said Kim.

The South Korean top court ruled that Japanese companies forcibly conscripting South Korean people during World War II, including Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries among others, should compensate the victims.

In apparant protest against the South Korean top court's ruling and the similar orders by lower courts, the Japanese government last month tightened regulations on its export to South Korea of three materials vital to produce memory chips and display panels, which are the mainstay of the South Korean export.

Earlier this month, Japan removed South Korea from its whitelist of trusted export partners that are given preferential export procedure. In response, Seoul also dropped Tokyo off its whitelist.

"I lived a life full of sorrow... Japan destroyed my whole life... (Japan) must acknowledge, apologize and compensate... I believe people in Japan, who knows the truth, will help us," said Kim.

Kim expressed her thanks to Japanese people who supported her fight for apology and reparation from the Japanese government. One of them was Hideki Yano, Secretary General of the National Network for Forced Labor, a Japanese civic group taking side with the South Korean forced labor victims.